MANUEL CASARES ENRIQUEZ

He was born in Zamora, capital-city of its province, on July 14th, 1930.

His musical career shows two basic aspects: his exclusive dedication to performing vocal music, which has been his passion throughout his entire life; and the fact that he has always liked to do it as an amateur, purely out of personal vocation.

In his musical activity we find three clearly differentiated stages, corresponding to the three different cities where he has lived throughout his life: Zamora, Barcelona and Zaragoza.

The first of these stages corresponds to his youth which he spent in Zamora. It is then that he started his choral activity (year 1945) as a member of the Choral Group "Los Luises" (Society of Saint Luis Gonzaga), although his real vocation and his confirmation as a choral singer took place at the age of sixteen when he was admitted in the "Real Coral" of Zamora. Mr. Casares was a member of this group, founded and directed by Master Inocencio Haedo Ganza, for ten years, and he attended practice sessions daily all that time. He became bass soloist of the "Real Coral de Zamora", and a favourite student of Master Haedo, who for a long time gave him daily singing lessons, and became a personal friend of his. Master Inocencio Haedo was Mr. Casares' second music teacher, since his first one had been his paternal grandfather, Ciriaco Casares Hernández, a professional musician, who taught him music theory and piano lessons when Mr. Casares was just a little child.

His second stage corresponds to the time he spent in Barcelona, where he continued his studies of singing with Madame Marcoff. There, he was a member of several groups of chamber music ("Alleluia", "Coro de Camara Ciudad de Barcelona", and "Coral de Antiguos Escolanos de Montserrat"), where he sang as a bass soloist, and he was also a bass of the vocal quartet of the group "Ars Musicae", with old instruments, founded by Mr. Lamaqa. In addition to this, he collaborated sporadically with other choral groups, such as "Coral de San Jordi", directed by D. Oriol Martorell, or "Coro Madrigal", directed by D. Manuel Cavero. He was also part of a group without a name (formed by singers from several other groups, among them the "Coro del Liceo") dedicated to religious cult, recordings, dubbings, etc. At that time, the group "Alleluia" was directed by D. Enrique Gispert, the group "Coro de Camara Ciudad de Barcelona", by D. Eugenio Gasull, and the "Coral de Antiguos Escolanos de Montserrat", by several directors, among them D. Juan María Aragonés and D. Leopoldo Massó.

His third stage corresponds to his stay in Zaragoza, where he has been living since 1966. In addition to continuing his musical activity as a soloist, he has been a member of the "Polifsnica Miguel Fleta" (directed by D. Emilio Reina), and the "Coral Zaragoza" (directed by D. Luis Nozal). He also collaborated with the group "Coral de Pina de Ebro", directed then by D. Andrés Ibiricu.

During this last stage in Zaragoza, he has followed private courses in harmony. He has attended, since their beginning in 1984, the music courses organized in the Balneario de Panticosa by the Municipal Council of Zaragoza, where he has studied Choral Direction with D. Vmctor Lumbroso (from the French musical group "A Coeur Joie") and Vocal Technique with D. Jacques Calatayud (soloist of the Strasbourg Opera). At the same time and for ten years he has attended, as a student, the Choral Music Courses organized yearly in the city of Borja by the "Centre for the Spreading of Choral Music in Aragsn". He has also taken part in 15 performances and one recording with the "Teatro Lírico de Zaragoza", created in October 1988.

Mr. Casares is the author of a good number of religious polyphonic works, as well as many harmonizations for choral singing, especially of popular Spanish songs. He also owns a considerable collection of polyphonic works of all times, countries, authors and styles. He belongs to the Spanish "Sociedad General de Autores" and is the author of several literary pieces about various musical themes.